Additional information: I dusted off the old Raspberrry Pi B Raspbbmc box that the new Odroid-C1 replaced and put it back on the network. The Pi version of Kodi is able to play the mpeg2 files flawlessly.

The Pi is running Raspbmc, kernel 3.12.21, and its Kodi version is 14.0 Git: 2014-12-24-e044d5a-dirty

Maybe this will help you chase down whatever the codec problem is on the C1.

Well, I am a developer, and the last thing I'd do if I had a bug somewhere in a large, complex code base of mine would be to invite a complete outsider to come muck around in it.

The best action here is what has already been done: report the problem, provide an input file that allows the developers to replicate the problem, and then let them fix it. Either they will, or they won't.

the code is all open-source, you can have a look at it and try to fix your problems, especially if you are a developer.e.g. - i want to use C1 for an arcade, but SDL2 is working only in X11 mode on the C1. So i got the sources from SDL2 and made a framebuffer interface for it. SDL2 it's a big project, but it does not mean I can't look for a small bit I am interested in.For Kodi, you only look at the video codec. That's 4 files in https://github.com/mdrjr/xbmc/tree/k_c1 ... decs/Video : AMLCodec.cpp/h and DVDVideoCodecAmlogic.cpp/h ... these 4 files do use apparently the aml_libs i linked earlier... you can compile your own kodi and try to debug the issue... hw video decoding in kodi for odroid u2/u3 and xu/xu3 for example was developed by forum member @oversun. A lot of rpi code was also done by volunteers / community members. it helps reporting too, but if you can do more, why not?

Update on this: I played one of the problematic mpeg-2 files on the C1 using the included Gnome MPlayer tool, and it plays fine without any of the choppyness that Kodi has. The test file is here: http://www.parrot-farm.net/Odroid/MPEG2-test.mpg

Also, after updating the kernel to 3.10.67-55 today, and also updating Kodi, Kodi has no audio.

The latest Kodi on the Android could play well several MPEG2 video files a couple of weeks ago. But I can't recall the version of Kodi because I'm running the OMV on the C1 now.Try to install the latest Kodi from Googleplay.

Well, it is most definitely not a hardware problem, since as discussed earlier in this thread, MPEG-2 videos play fine when using VLC or other distribution- or Ubuntu-supplied media players. It is only Kodi that seems to have problems with MPEG-2.

simple..using other players works, cause they are using "software decoder" which is working just fine, since the CPU is doing all the work.Kodi is using hardware decoder from AmLogic, which is broken for MPEG2.

My opinion is that the issue lies in Kodi's use of the MPEG2 codec rather than the hardware being defective.

The reason for this assertion is:1) MPEG2 is a licensed product. To receive that license, the manufacturer must pass conformance tests.2) The Amlogic S805 used in C1 was designed for set top boxes. An OTT product that could not decode the ATSC/DVB-* MPEG2 streams would be unsellable.

The key thing that stood out to me about the sample video linked earlier in this thread is that it is 480i (interlaced) not 480p (progressive). This means there are two fields per frame rather than one. Kodi needs to take this into consideration as well as how the other components involved (post processing) deal with converting that to a HDMI display that may be progressing or interlaced (1080p/1080i) and of varying refresh rates (3:2 pulldown).

My recommendation is to start debugging at Kodi and work your way backwards through the pipeline. A good start would be to take the "bad" video posted earlier and remove all the extra streams except for video. A media player uses a different clocking mechanism when there is no audio present.

No matter where the problem lies there is a software solution to it. Everything from Kodi to the kernel drivers to the microcode used on the VPU is modifiable.

crashoverride wrote:2) The Amlogic S805 used in C1 was designed for set top boxes. An OTT product that could not decode the ATSC/DVB-* MPEG2 streams would be unsellable.

I think it was @wrxtasy in the OpenELEC forum who said this issues affects ALL AMLogic SoCs not only the one used for the ODROID C1. Most of which are used as set top boxes. I wonder if they use a workaround and simply software decode it or something.

crashoverride wrote:No matter where the problem lies there is a software solution to it. Everything from Kodi to the kernel drivers to the microcode used on the VPU is modifiable.

True, question is if where is the right point of fixing it. Some people say it's the VPU that's causing the issue. I think Kodi is just redirecting everything to the decoder and doesn't do much more than that for AMLogic.So I'm not sure if Kodi really is the issue here. (Please don't kill me if I understood that wrong )

meveric wrote:I think it was @wrxtasy in the OpenELEC forum who said this issues affects ALL AMLogic SoCs

The key point there is it affects Kodi on all AMLogic platforms (all using Kodi's AMLogic interface code)

meveric wrote: I think Kodi is just redirecting everything to the decoder and doesn't do much more than that for AMLogic.

That is also how I understand it to be. On other platforms, the codec runs as-fast-as-it-can. Then Kodi presents a frame to the framebuffer via GLES. On C1, its different. The codec runs real-time: it handles frame sync and vsync in an interrupt and presents the video independently from what Kodi and the framebuffer are doing.

I do not know if this is a Kodi demuxer problem, and deinterlace issue or a decoder or even a Kernel / VPU problem.

What we really need is a another Hardware decoded video player to see if Kodi is the problem. I've tried a few in Android but they software decode. I will keep hunting.

The same playback issue occurs in the older AMLogic SoC in the WeTek Play as well. The new WeTek Core has the same problem.

Questions for the HardKernel Devs

a) Are AMLogic aware of this issue ?b) If they are not, I kindly ask that you send them some samples please.c) If AMLogic are aware of this problem can you at the very least give Users here on the Forum some feedback that AMLogic may or may not be looking at the issue ?

This looks like a very long standing playback problem. End users have been kept in the dark long enough. I ask the HardKernel devs to ask AMLogic if they are at least doing anything. Some feedback within the week would be appreciated.

The issue should probably be raised with the Kodi (XBMC) Team or the author that made the commit: https://github.com/davilla. Its more likely that a Kodi developer could work with AMLogic to resolve the issue than 3rd parties (reproducible test cases, etc that would demonstrate an actual issue for AMLogic to resolve rather than just a bug in Kodi).

wrxtasy wrote:This looks like a very long standing playback problem. End users have been kept in the dark long enough. I ask the HardKernel devs to ask AMLogic if they are at least doing anything. Some feedback within the week would be appreciated.

So far as I can tell, nothing has been done on this issue since I first reported in on Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:28 am.